"He Told Them Tales of Bees and Flowers, the Ways of Trees, and the Strange Creatures of the Forest, About the Evil Things and the Good things, Things Friendly and Things Unfriendly, Cruel things and Kind Things, and Secrets Hidden Under Brambles"

Not too much new happened this week. Mostly just continuing to visit the members. Gaining the trust of the members is probably one of the things missionaries in the past haven't done as much, and working with the members is the BEST way to do missionary work, cause they will know the area and people much better than we ever will, so a lot of what we have been doing is just getting to know them. 

But we still have done things. Last Monday we went on a hike! We went up a mountain called The Needle. It is pretty much the middle of the island. It was awesome. But we got a bit lost. Because The Needle is on a trail called the cross-island trail, which is pretty much what it sounds like. A trail that goes across the island.... and there is a waterfall towards the end. So we were looking for it, but there were a few trails, and our "tour guide", the one who just got baptized and married the Saturday before, hadn't gone from that side, so we got lost. But oh well, it was still awesome!! It was WAY muddy, and I did it in my sandals, cause one of the other elders has my other shoes, and he forgot to bring them. But it was all good and I got some good pictures. 

On Tuesday we had our district meeting. Here it is basically just a meeting for us, the other elders, and the senior missionary couple, just so we can keep the work going strong. 

So there are 3 branches (or groups) on this Island. One, called Arorangi, the other elders cover. The other two, Avarua and Takitumu, we cover. Now we mostly stay in Avarua, but we need to do more work in Takitumu, so we decided we are going to go there every Wednesday, stay the night, and come back Thursday night. So we did that for our first time this past week. It is a bit of a bike ride. About 45 minutes to an hour, depending on where you start and stop. (It would be nice to drive on the motorbikes or motorscooters especially that everyone else here drives, but we can't, so oh well!) And the flat there is a bit dodgy. It would be really nice, if we stayed there all the time. But the fridge doesn't work, the stuff is all old, there is no hot water, and per the norm there are many bugs. Not as many roaches (though there still are a few), mostly ants and heaps of dead or dying millipedes. There is also the occasional centipede. And not the little ones. Big ones. I only saw one the night we stayed there, but it was about 5 inches long. I tried to get a picture, but man that thing was FAST, so I will try to get a better one later.   

Oh, and by the way, all the chapels here are more of complexes, with there still being buildings, but you have to go outside to get to the other little buildings, but anyway, all of them have a missionary flat built in, so that is where we stay.

 So when we woke up Thursday morning in Takitumu, we got a call asking if we could come back to Avarua to give a blessing. So, (since we had to go past the chapels) we biked about an hour a half to go and give it, and then an hour and a half back, past the chapel, to go mow a lawn. Which, by the way, was on a ride on mower, so it wasn't as hard, but still hot, and lots of fun. But anyway that was tiring. After that we had lunch with a man named [Timothy], who is our most recent convert. He is originally Cantonese (from Hong Kong) but he was adopted as a baby by English parents, and has lived everywhere, namely Scotland and England.

The rest of our days were mostly, like I said, getting to know members. Teaching them. Haha, on Saturday we had a funny moment though. We were walking our bikes from a house (who, by the way, we had just set for baptism!!! Though apparently she keeps agreeing to when her husband moves out, but when he moves in a week later, she changes it, but hopefully this time!!) to another house, when a pretty drunk guy stopped us. From what I could understand of his thick accent and drunken tones, he was less active. So he was telling us about that. As we were there though, one of our YSA pulled up and started talking when the drunk man left. After that it was just a chain of members. When one left and we started to leave, another pulled up. And we had several just drive by and wave or shout hi while we were talking to the others. It all culminated with the other elders coming in the car of one of their members and saying hi. So when we finally got out of that, we go to the appointment, and the investigator was asleep. So instead we just gave a little member lesson to the two YSA (young single adults) that had come over cause they were friends with the said sleeping investigator. (Funnily enough, they are actually in the other elders ward, which is probably the strongest ward when it comes to amount of YSA. Our ward [usually if I say something like "our ward" it means the one in Avarua] has 3 I think, and 2 of them are leaving.)

So yes! All good, all fun, all in the service of the Lord!! 

Stay awesome y'all!! 

-Elder Clayton-

Pictures:

1-7: scenery

8: My kind of sign ;)

9: that centipede....it's probably sharing a territory with tarantulas

10: How dirty my shirt got after all that biking on Thursday, it was so gross.

11:Another Island pic. :)

"Never Before had he Been so Suddenly and so Keenly Aware of the Feel and Texture of a Tree's Skin and the Life Within it. He Felt a Delight in Wood and the Touch of it, Neither as a Forester nor as a Carpenter; it was the Delight of the Living Tree Itself."

Wow, it has been an adventure. So, after taking the bus down to Auckland, we all piled into a small minivan (there were three elders and two sisters, all with luggage...) and drove very squished to the mission office. After waiting there for all the missionaries going home to do their final interview with the mission president, some zone leaders from an area called Harbour came and picked us up. So we stayed in their flat and played touch rugby early in the morning. Then Elder Fanger left and I stayed in that flat for a couple more days. I was just in a trio with two elders named Elder Hann and Elder Burgess. It was fun.

We went to a driving range for lunch one of the days. It actually got me really pumped. I wanted to just go and talk with everyone. I guess being on my own really made me want to keep doing the work of the Lord. It was awesome. I did a TWE (talk with everyone) with this Asian couple, they weren't interested, but it was still really cool and I felt very successful doing it, so SWEET!

Haha it was funny, we went to a rescue night (where we go with members of the ward to go visit other less active members) and it was actually really weird! They were all white....ha I am so used to the brown ones now. And when there were none I felt a bit discomforted. Cause Harbour is all the rich white people. And heaps of Asians. Bottom line, it is very slow missionary wise, but it is still pretty cool! 

Anyway, on Thursday we didn't hear our alarm, so we woke up a bit late and had to rush to meet one of the mission couples at the office cause they were taking us to the Airport. So we picked up the other Elder going out. His name is Elder Taimani. He is Tongan, but from Salt Lake... Anyway, we got on the airplane all good, and after a three hour flight, we finally ended up in the lovely Island of Rarotonga!!

 We met our companions. Elder Taimani is with an elder named Elder Manarangi (I think I am struggling to remember his name...or anyone's here, these island names are tricky...And usually I do well with faces, but man. Again, I am not doing the best...oh well!!) He is half Tongan and half Cook Islander, so he has heaps of family here, it is a pretty big name. He actually lived here for 5 years till he moved to Tonga. Anyway, my companions name is Elder Nonu. He is half Samoan and also half Cook Islander, but he lived in Australia. He has heaps of family here too! Haha. It is interesting, he actually started in my last area, where I started. And one of the elders that left, Elder Adams, was transferred to there. XD

 Anyway, Elder Nonu is cool, but a bit quiet. He is the District Leader here, and that is about as high as our leadership goes. We have a senior couple that is pretty much our mission president, but that is about it. It is a totally different mission. We have pretty much no connection to New Zealand. They told me to buy a hat, and when I got here, I was told that I won't hardly wear it. And I have only worn it once. Meh. Anyway I will survive. If all of my stuff doesn't mold or I don't get eaten. Apparently everything molds here and there are heaps of bugs everywhere. We have lots of ants, though we have a few cockroaches and I had to kill heaps of big maggots this morning. There are a lot of geckoes in people’s houses, and there are so many chickens walking around. Whereas Whangarei had heaps of random cats, there are just so many chickens here. I even caught a chick the other day. There are also a lot of big dogs that all look similar. So fun!

There are also heaps of fruit trees. I thought everything grew in New Zealand, then I came here. My gosh. I am getting fruit that I haven't even heard of. My first day I got coconuts, star fruit, passion fruit, mangoes, papaya (or pawpaw as they say here), coco (sp?) (it is not chocolate), and avocado. Man it was heaps. I have drank out of a coconut every day I have been here. Members just machete one up for you. Haha we even have a machete for them. So it is cool!

We bike everywhere. And our bikes are quite dodgy. Weird tires, rusty parts, old. I dunno. Haha we don't have any lights on our bikes, so at night we just bike in the VERY dark night. Haha, it gets dark here fast. So much adventure! And the seat. Oh my goodness. Probably the most uncomfortable thing I have ever sat on. The day after I woke up, my legs were sore and my backside ripped to shreds. But I am getting used to it...hopefully.

 On Saturday we had a marriage baptism. It was fun. But in the other elder’s Branch. There are 3 branches here, and we cover two of them, but we hardly get out to the other one cause we only have push bikes and it is far. It is funny, almost everyone here has a motorbike or predominately a motor scooter. There are HEAPS of them. For them a trip round the island is mostly nothing. For our push bikes it takes a bit. And it is very frustrating cause there are no addresses or street names here. So all the directions are like "go past the food shop to the bus stop and it is the big house next to the freshly painted house by the coconut tree". It is really frustrating, but aw well.

We also went to the market on the island. Usually, in NZ, we aren't allowed, but here we can. It was super cool. They have the black pearls here that apparently are a big Cook Island thing. So I will have to see if I can find a cool one. I also want a ukulele....

Also, it is SO HOT. Man. I am just covered in a constant rainy blanket of sweat. When I take off my tie at the end of the day, it is soaked, THROUGH my collar. So it is how. We are the only island mission other than Niue that isn't allowed to wear Sulu (those formal skirt things that they usually have on those missionary island pictures) but we are seeing if we can. :)) The churches here are so weird. They are all out door complexes. So to get to anywhere you step outside. Our baptismal font is outside too. It is crazy!! 

Anyway...I THINK I have said everything I can think of in that surplus of information. But yes it is awesome but still hard work! :)))

Love y'alls! 

-Elder Clayton-

"Home is Behind, the World Ahead, and There are Many paths to Tread Through Shadows to the Edge of Night, Until the Stars are All Alight"

Hey all! Sorry for the lateness of the email. I was on a bus heading down to a major New Zealand city when I usually do emails, but here is my one now! 

This is it. This is the real test. My first area, my birthplace, my first exposure to the mission, my "home" if you will. I am leaving it. No more trainer, no more comfort of familiarity. I am headed to the big world now!!

But what happened in the week I left? 

Well, we almost got into a fight. After Elder Fanger’s last district meeting, the Zone leaders kidnapped him so we could buy him some lunch. Then afterwards we were driving to their flat when we saw a guy and a girl on the sidewalk. It looked like she was trying to get by and he wouldn't let her. So we drove by again and it looked like he was apologizing. So we turned back around and it looked tense again, this repeated a couple times until we saw him kick out her legs from under her and push her on the ground and then start kicking her. Well we weren't having that. Elder Jorgenson peeled the car over and parked and we all got out. At this point he was trying to apologize again, but she was crying. So we were talking to him and we were asking why he did that. He swore at us, gave us dirty looks, and said he treats her like a princess. And when we brought up the fact that he just kicked her onto the ground he made up some crap excuse about him being "mental". I think he was just a druggy. But I shouldn't judge. You could just tell he was a tool though. So as we were there the cops pulled up and started talking to him and we left. So we weren't really looking for a fight, all of us were just the type of people that won't stand for girls getting abused. Man, we were not happy. But oh well. Everything turned out right, and I am glad I was able to help. :)

Then we went and did some service helping build stables for horses. It was cool, but man we got burned. Which led to the next day. Elder Fanger was so burned that he was very fatigued and threw up a couple times. So he rested for a bit, but we were still able to get out some and we went to [Paul's] and he taught us more of the Haka. 

On Thursday, we went out to a place called Dargaville. It is quite infamous for being an interesting town. There is heaps of different churches. Pretty much all they grow is Kumara, and heaps of it. And there's even a story that ages ago, when the mission first opened, some missionaries went there and the people in Dargaville killed them. So a guy named Mathew Cowley (eventually and apostle) went and cursed the main river they have and made it turn upside down. And I believe it. I have seen that river and it is one of the muddiest, dirtiest things I have ever seen. Anyway, it is a bit dodgy (the missionaries there are moving cause all of their neighbors want to kill them basically. Not that bad, but they called the cops on one of their neighbors for beating his wife, and they are all family...) Anyway, Elder Fanger was born (started) there so we took him there to see it before he died (finished). It was awesome! :))

Then I went on a trade off with one of the elders in Bream Bay. Then the next day a trade off with the Zone Leaders. On Saturday we went to a little bushy town called Pipiwai. There's not much there. Anyway, they were having a burnout.  Just doughnut and smoke your car till your tires explode basically.  So we went and talked with some of the people there. It was actually very big.

 On Sunday, we had a big potluck at the chapel after church cause all our members knew we were leaving, so they cooked us a feed. Anyway, that day and the next were mostly just us saying good bye to people. So I got some pics too. Anyway, it was actually really sad to leave, but hopefully I will come back!! :)) 

--Elder Clayton--

"If More of Us Valued Food and Cheer and Song Above Hoarded Gold, it Would be a Merrier World."

It has been a good week! I am a tad rushed, but I have some entertaining stories for you. On Monday we went back to Mt. Manaia. It was cool except me and Elder Palmer tried to bushwhack and find the trail, but we ended up on pretty much a cliff face. With him pulling me up on a rope. That we found. And he is a climber (I am not), and he even said we need to turn back. So yeah that was dodgy. And I twisted my ankle pretty bad when we got back to the trail. But oh well. 

We have a recent convert named [Paul], and he was on all the Capa Haka teams, so he is teaching us a couple of Hakas!!! I am excited, I will send a vid when I can. :) 

Tuesday night we went over to a member’s house and he pulled out smoked fish heads. Big old snappers. The meat was actually very good, and I don't usually enjoy fish, but it was good. Then we had the eyes and I had a brain. They didn't taste bad, the eye was quite ok. But the brain. Wooh. Like I said, not to bad taste, but the texture... ugh. It felt exactly like I imagine brains to be. Slimy and tubey. Man. Aaaannndd, there's pics for you. (I had a video, but it is too big to send...) ;) 

On Wednesday, I went on a trade off with an Elder named Elder Dearden. He is awesome! We ate fruit, fed some to a cow and a goat, saw some piggies, looked extensively for an address we never found, and got a gun pointed at us. Ok, not really, but kind of. We walked up and there was a .22 rifle sitting on the couch pointed towards the door. So there was a gun pointed at us, just no one behind the trigger. XD 

On Thursday we went back to the boat for dinner. Man those kids love us. You know how kids are, all crazy and energetic when company comes around. :)

 On Friday we went back to the house of the person who gave us the fish heads. He had two nonmember nieces there, his 25ish year old daughter's nonmember boyfriend, and a less active member Elder Fanger knew when he started his mission. We had an awesome lesson with them. They asked heaps of questions and it was really spiritual. :) 

We had a member baptism on Saturday and then a dinner with some of the most normal people in our ward. Because everyone in our ward is weird. But in a hilarious way. And this family is still strange, but very laid back. They told me my name in Maori, and apparently my name in Maori is Hame (hah-may). So, AWESOME!! 

Then on Sunday we had church and dinner at [Chad Brown] 's house. His brother is our temple president and was actually spoken about in general conference. But he was less active for a while, and he has been coming back. He is the man! He is simultaneously one of the most prideful yet humble people I have ever met. But he feeds us every Sunday. Then we went to see another family we see on Sundays. The [Miller] family. They have 6 kids, all members, but he isn't a member. But he is hilarious and really likes us. I love that family they are so cool. Anyway, we talk about lots of things, including weird foods. One of the Maori delicacies (though most Maoris don't even eat it) is rotten corn. And he finally fed us some last night. It was actually pretty good. Everyone was hyping up the terrible smell, but when I finally smelled it, it wasn't too bad. You know the smell of a farm? (Or Greeley if you live in Colorado?) It kind of smelled like that but less strong. Anyway, it is sort of a porridge and we had it with cream and sugar. It was not the best thing I have ever had, but it is good. And now I can say I have done it! :))

 Otherwise, the Wellsford Elders stayed at our flat last night cause they live far away, and we stayed up lateish playing UNO. It was awesome. :)))

                                         

Anyways, I love y'alls! 

-Elder Clayton-